


The Dating Game

by collectingstories



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Awkward Flirting, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Unrequited Crush, a slow burn in three chapters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-26
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-07-20 06:56:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19987978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/collectingstories/pseuds/collectingstories
Summary: In the interest of getting an A on a writing project the reader devises a plan to fake a relationship with Jonathan. He'll make Nancy jealous and she'll get the grade she wants by documenting the whole thing. But as feelings change and roles get twisted will things work out the way they want in the end or will what they want be something different than they thought?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is something I'm writing for a challenge on Tumblr. My first time writing the Stranger Things universe.

**October 28th 1984**

Jonathan Byers desperately wanted Nancy Wheeler’s attention. It wasn’t something he out right said to you but it didn’t take a genius to work out his obvious attraction to his little brother’s best friend’s sister. He openly stared at the back of her head in English as she sat up front, whispering with Steve Harrington and you sat in the back next to Jonathan, waiting for him to at least pretend to participate in the group project. You didn’t know Jonathan all that well, he was cute, a nice face to look at every now and then when you were bored in class but you had never spoken too him. You had been feeling pretty neutral about working on the project together, a creative writing assignment for English class, until you realized that he was so fixated on Nancy that you wouldn’t get anything done. 

“Are you going to this?” You asked, reaching over and taking the bright orange flyer off his desk. A Halloween bash at some popular kid’s house. 

He shrugged, “Nancy invited me.” He said it as if he was distracted and honestly, he was. After everything they’d been through last year he really thought things would be different but they weren’t. She was still with Steve and he was still that weird kid with the camera. 

“Let’s go then.” You replied. It was purely for selfish reasons but you couldn’t help thinking that if he wasn’t going to write this piece with you he could at least inspire it. 

“What?” Now you had drawn his attention. 

“You like Nancy Wheeler, right?” 

“I-“

You held up your hand to cut him off, “of course you do. So this is what happens-“ It was the perfect plan. He would pick you up on Halloween at 8p, after he dropped his brother off to go trick-or-treating. You and he would attend the Halloween bash as a couple, albeit a fake one, and he would talk to Nancy while also making it clear that he was unavailable. “She definitely likes you too and seeing you with someone else will get her thinking about how she wishes you were with her. So then yada-yada, she breaks up with Steve, you and her get together, perfect story.” 

“I don’t know…” Jonathan looked apprehensively between you and the flyer, trying to decide if tricking her into thinking he was dating was really the route he wanted to take. 

“Hey, I can fake break-up with you once she’s interested, so you don’t seem like a douche.” You offered. 

“What’s in it for you?” 

An A in English, you thought to yourself, “I’m just a super nice person Byers, everyone says so.” You shrug and offer him a smile which he returns uneasily. 

In order for your plan to work you decide there is definitely more you need to know about Jonathan, aside from his picture taking obsession and his kid brother being the boy who came back. The best way you know to go about this is to invite him somewhere public, killing two birds with one stone. People might see you together and start talking plus you can actually learn enough about your fake boyfriend to make the illusion feel real. So you invite out to Benny’s, which takes a lot more begging on your end than you thought possible, but he finally agrees after the fifth time you follow him from a classroom to his locker. 

“Alright, if you’ll leave me alone for the rest of the day.” He sounds exasperated and you figure he probably doesn’t get pestered often. You’re pretty good at being annoying when you want to be and once you have your mind set on something there’s nothing that can pull you away from your task. 

“I’ll see you at Benny’s at 7, don’t be late.” You replied, smiling as you walked backwards away from him. 

He stood in front of his locker, watching you walk away until you turned and headed into your study hall period. Jonathan was not a fan of new people, even if they had technically been going to school with him since he was in elementary school. Just because the two of you had been in class together every year since kindergarten didn’t mean that he knew you or that he’d even really talked to you before. You had offered condolences and asked if you could do anything when Will went missing and long before that you and Jonathan used to play together at recess but that was all that ever progressed between you two. Nothing like a real friendship and that made him uncomfortable and nervous when he thought about going to Benny’s with you. 

“Who was that?” 

Jonathan nearly jumped at the sound of Nancy’s voice beside him and he turned to look at her. “My uh…my English partner. We’re going to Benny’s tonight to study.” 

“Sounds fun.” Nancy smiled at him.

“I don’t know,” Jonathan shook his head, beginning to walk with Nancy down the hallway. 

“Oh come on,” she bumped his hip and he felt his face go red, “put yourself out there more Jonathan, you’re a great guy, anyone would be lucky to be friends with you.”

“It’s just an English assignment Nance,” he huffed. 

It wasn’t just an English assignment but telling her the whole truth would ruin the plan. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to go through with this ridiculous plan or if he should even believe you that Nancy felt the same way as him but he was hopeful and he had to take the chance. He couldn’t stand seeing her with Steve, wishing that was him making her happy. If your plan worked well, he’d be indebted to you permanently. 

For now he would just worry about dinner at Benny’s. He made dinner for his family, made sure Will finished his homework, and did his own before leaving to meet up with you. When he pulled into the parking lot outside of Benny’s you were standing there, leaning against your car. You waved as he parked in the spot beside yours. 

“Hey, I was gonna go in but I figured I’d wait…I get such anxiety when I’m waiting for people.” You mentioned, adjusting the strap on your backpack as you stood up all the way. Jonathan got out his own backpack wordlessly and only smiled in response to your sharing. 

He led the way inside and chose what table you would sit at, a booth in the midway into the diner with him sitting on the seat across from you. Booths were your favorite so you weren’t bothered by the choice and you quickly sat down, pulling the menu toward you. 

“I’m not sure I understand why we’re doing this.” Jonathan mentioned, keeping his voice low as he put his elbows on the table and leaned toward you.

“Because you wanna date Nancy Wheeler and I’m gonna help you do that.” You shrugged. 

“I think that’s the part I don’t understand.”

“It’s science my friend,” you put down your menu and leaned towards him, “Nancy’s totally into you but she’s got Steve so she doesn’t realize it. And you’re totally into her but you’re too shy to make a move-”

“I’m not shy.”

You ignored him and continued trying to explain the plan, “but if you had someone she’d be jealous and realize that she wants you and then bam! Together forever.” 

Jonathan ran a hand through his hair and huffed out a breath, trying to convince himself that this was a good idea. He didn’t want to do anything that would hurt Nancy, including tricking her into breaking up with Steve, even if you claimed that she wanted to. You weren’t exactly friends with Nancy or him or Steve, there wasn’t a time he could think of that he remembered seeing you around any of them. But now you were claiming to know what Nancy wanted and offering to help him get what he wanted. 

“I just don’t understand why you’re helping me.” Jonathan said, reiterating his point from earlier.

“Because we’re gonna be working on this creative writing assignment until Christmas and I don’t want to be stuck sitting next to you in class doing all the work because you’re busy staring at Nancy Wheeler, wishing she would pay attention to you.” You levelled with him, leaving out the bit where you planned on documenting the entire series of events for the creative writing assignment. 

“Alright…” Jonathan seemed apprehensive as he agreed to your plan. 

-

**Halloween October 31st 1984**

On Halloween night Jonathan pulled up outside your house to find you waiting on the curb, dressed like Stevie Nicks. You’d been preparing to dress up as Tina from Nightmare on Elm Street every since you went to see the movie but going out with Jonathan the other night had you wanting to dress to impress, even just a little bit. You were hoping the Fleetwood Mac costume would get you some notable mention, even if his sights were set on Nancy. 

“You look not dressed up.” You pointed out, climbing into the passenger side of the car. 

“I don’t have a costume.” 

“You’ll just have to rely on your devilish good looks then Byers.” You teased, leaning over and pinching his cheek playfully. Jonathan swatted you away, glaring at you. 

The girl who let you both into the house gave a questioning look to your hand in Jonathan’s. Whether or not she recognized you from school she definitely recognized your date and the look she gave you as you passed her in the entry way was a clear look of ‘what are you doing with him?’. You ignored it, squeezing Jonathan’s hand as you lead him to the punch table.

“Jonathan!” He turned at the sound of his name and found Nancy behind him, a wide smile on her face as she sipped from a red cup. Your hand was still in his as she hugged him and you kept your hold, allowing him to hug her back with only one arm. 

“Hey Nancy, you look great.” He said as he pulled away, looking over her outfit. She smiled and you nodded in agreement even though you didn’t. It wasn’t anything special and you hadn’t spent two hours getting ready so he could say nothing about yours. It was stupid to be upset but you couldn’t help it. Jonathan was cute, you couldn’t help liking him a little.

“Thanks! Did you guys come together?” She asked, looking to your intertwined hands. 

“Yeah, Jonathan asked me.” You replied, hugging his arm. 

He looked over at you anxiously but nodded his head. This whole thing was way too far out of his comfort zone. Dating, parties, socializing…even if most of it was a show to get the girl, he still felt riddled with anxiety over the idea of it. 

-

“You’re supposed to be having fun Jonathan.” You teased, falling into a space on the couch beside your date. Pressing your leg against his. 

“I am.” He insisted though from the look of discomfort and fear marring his features you knew he was lying. This was the first time Jonathan had ever attended a high school party and he was more than a little nervous to be here. He wasn’t good around crowds. He could face down a demogorgan but a room full of high school kids and he felt like he was going to seize up. 

“Here,” You passed your red cup to him, “some liquid courage for you.”

“I drove here, I shouldn’t drink.” 

“One isn’t gonna kill you my friend.” You promised, leaning into Jonathan’s space. You chanced laying your head on his shoulder and twisting to look at him, knowing you could pass the behavior off as being drunk. 

Jonathan took the cup from you, holding it to his lips but not drinking. He glanced down at you and smiled faintly, “ya know, you’ve really got this peer pressure thing down to a science.” 

You sat up, smiling as he took a drink. “Was that a joke? Does Jonathan Byers tell jokes now? God I feel like we just became best friends.” 

“How much have you had to drink?” 

You were about to answer him when you heard Nancy’s voice cut through the party, drawing everyone’s attention, Jonathan included. You sat all the way up and watched as Nancy yelled at Steve right there in front of everyone. She sounded far more inebriated than you were and the shrillness of her voice seemed to sober you up enough to remember why you had come here in the first place. You and Jonathan weren’t dating…this wasn’t some fun, cute party you attended as a couple so you could get drunk and make out in someone else’s room. This was a project for English class, this was Jonathan Byers finally making his move on Nancy Wheeler. 

“Go talk to her.” You urged as she stormed out of the living room and everyone started to resume the party. 

“What?” Jonathan looked petrified at the idea.

“Go, now’s your chance. She’s upset.” You nudged him and he nodded, standing up and handing you his cup. You watched him walk passed Steve Harrington in the hallway and you downed the rest of your drink. This was going to be a hell of a project when you were finished. 

The excitement that had masked the taste of the punch was gone now that you were helping Jonathan load a drunk and rambling Nancy Wheeler into his car. He buckled her in and closed the passenger door, turning to look at you. He was anxious, you could tell from the way he fidgeted. 

“Do you think…I’m gonna take Nancy home, do you think you could find another ride?” 

“No problem.” You shrugged, biting at your lower lip. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow at school.” 

And just like that Jonathan’s old gray car was pulling out of the driveway and he was heading toward the Wheeler’s. Lucky her, you thought, she gets to be rescued by Jonathan while you get stuck here at this stupid party dressed like stupid Stevie Nicks wishing that he’d looked at you even a little bit the way he’d looked at her. She looked like fucking Nancy Reagan and he’d still stared at her like she was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen. 

“It fucking sucks.” Steve’s voice sounded from behind you and you turned to see him on the step, his face partially obscured by his sunglasses and his red solo cup. 

“What does?” You asked, unsure if he was really talking to you. But there was no one else around. 

“Fucking life man.” 

“That’s really philosophical Harrington.” 

“You wanna grab something to eat?” He hopped down the steps and downed the rest of his punch before tossing the cup at the bushes. “Benny’s is still open and I could use some food.” 

“Yeah alright.” You followed him to his car and got in the passenger side. 

Benny’s was practically empty aside for the workers. You and Steve got a booth in the back and when you sat in he climbed in beside you. He stretched out, laying his arms on the table and resting his head on them, turning to look at you. 

“I really miss trick or treating man, those were the days.” 

“Do you remember Mr Gilbert?” You asked, opening your menu up. 

“He used to give us mini toothbrushes and toothpaste.” Steve laughed, “oh my god I hated going to his house.” 

“I wonder if he still does that.” 

“Next year we should trick or treat. Screw Nancy and her bullshit and stupid parties.” He leaned his head back against the vinyl of the booth. 

“You alright? I heard her yell at you.” 

“Nah, nah.” He shook his head, “it doesn’t matter. According to her love is just bullshit right so what does it matter?” 

You shrugged, what did you know about any of that. You had no former boyfriend to speak of and no experience in the love department. It was just you and your dad at home and he was almost never at home. He certainly wasn’t providing any lasting life lessons about love and relationships. 

“What about you?” Steve asked, “you’re not pissed Jonathan ditched you?” 

“Love is bullshit right?” You repeated, “we’re just friends anyway.”

“I wish my just friends dressed up like that for me.” He laughed, looking over at your outfit. 

“It’s a costume party Harrington, I’m Stevie Nicks.” 

“Yeah and you picked that outfit.” He replied. “Come on, you’re trying to get someone’s attention.” 

“It doesn’t matter, he’s never gonna see me that way.” You slumped in your seat. 

“Looks like we’re in the same boat.” Steve pointed out. 

After pancakes and enough coffee to keep you awake for a week Steve drove you home where the two of you decided to continue your night watching the late-night scary movie marathon. It was all old Abbot and Costello or Bela Lugosi movies. Steve reclined on the laz-e-boy in your basement and you stretched out on the loveseat. You had never hung out with Steve Harrington before. Years the two of you had been in school together and yet you never spent any time together. Not even on the playground or sitting at lunch in elementary. 

And now here you were, sitting in your basement with him watching not-so-scary scary movies and talking about you’re shitty experiences in love. You thought about telling him your plan. He was a lot nicer than you thought he’d be and he was funny and genuinely gutted over Nancy telling him that their love was bullshit. Even if she was drunk he knew a part of her was telling the truth, ever since last year she’d had her eye on Jonathan and he could compete with that. Even if he knew what was going on out there in Hawkins he hadn’t lived it the way she had, he wasn’t friends with Barb, he didn’t hold himself responsible for her death the way Nancy did. 

But you kept your mouth shut. You knew he’d be pissed, that he’d probably never speak to you again and you somehow didn’t think you wanted that. So you fed him some bullshit story about how you liked Jonathan and you finally asked him out to Benny’s just a few days ago and now he was ditching you for Nancy. And maybe it was partially true. You did like Jonathan, you thought he was cute even before this stupid writing assignment and you’d been excited to have a reason to speak to him. Other than that awkward time you told him you were sorry about Will and offered to hang some posters for him. Other than that. But you knew he liked Nancy and you figured, what the hell, you would let yourself indulge in your fantasy while getting a decent grade on a writing assignment by casting real life drama as the plot. But it was already all screwed up and it’d barely begun. 

“Maybe Nance’s right.” Steve lamented, looking over to you. “Everything is bullshit.” 

“Agreed.” 

-

**November 1st 1984**

You thought about scouring the halls to find Jonathan before homeroom but when you saw him talking to Nancy at his locker you chickened out, remembering the way he looked at her last night, even when she was halfway passed out on the passenger seat of his car. So you walked straight to your locker and during homeroom you sat a couple spaces in front of him, looking back a few times but never catching his attention. You would have to suck it up and talk to him before English, otherwise you were sure he would know something was up. He might not be the most perceptive person on the planet when it came to anyone outside his family and close friends but it wasn’t hard to figure out that you were avoiding him, especially when you bolted from homeroom. 

It was stupid really. Bullshit, as Nancy would say. You were avoiding him because of a silly crush that had developed ten fold in a matter of dinner at Benny’s when you were supposed to just be a friend, helping out another friend, no strings attached. You were supposed to be indifferent to Jonathan Byers and his awkward but cute charm and you definitely weren’t supposed to be this annoyed with Nancy. She was nice and even if you weren’t friends you always liked her and you wished nothing bad on her and if Jonathan liked her that made perfect sense. Why shouldn’t he?

“Hey.”

You turned around to find Carol leaning against the locker behind yours. You pushed up the sunglasses that were slipping down your nose and looked at her. The noise in the hallway was already adding to the headache you had and Carol’s shrill voice didn’t help. 

“Hey?”

“Heard you left the party last night with Steve Harrington.” 

“So what?” You asked, closing your locker. 

“So…you and Steve like, hook up? He on the market again?” Carol asked, walking with you toward your class.

“We’re just friends,” you insisted. 

Carol hummed but looked like she didn’t believe you. Before you could argue your case the bell rang and you were walking into maths class. It happened pretty serendipitously that you had maths with both Jonathan Byers and Steve Harrington. And while you usually sat towards the back by Jonathan out of habit and nothing more you were planning on getting info about last night. Until, that is, you walked passed Steve’s desk and he grabbed your arm. 

“Sit?” He requested, nodding his head toward the empty seat beside him. 

You looked back towards your regular seat and saw Jonathan looking at you curiously. Probably wondering the same thing you and everyone in class was wondering, why was Steve Harrington talking to this chick? 

“Yeah okay.” You’d just have to pry information from Jonathan at lunch. 

“Dude, everyone knows we left the party together last night.” Steve whispered, leaning over toward you. 

“Carol Just asked me about it in the hallway…I think she thinks we’re dating.” You confessed. Steve was a cool guy and you’d had fun hanging out with him last night but you by no means were interested in dating him. 

“Good, good…let her.” 

“What?” This was not supposed to happen this way. You had a plan and it was foolproof. 

“Look, I know what you said last night about you and Byers and I was thinking…we could totally use this whole thing to our advantage.” 

“I think you hurt yourself thinking too much. We are not pretending like we’re dating Steve.” You couldn’t let this get more messed up than it already was. How had this stupid idea in your head taken on a life of its own in such a short amount of time? You glanced back at Jonathan in enough time to see him turn his head back to the board. He was watching you and Steve. Probably because you were even talking to Steve and everyone, Jonathan Byers included, knew that you and Steve did not hang out or talk or anything. He was watching because this was some crazy once in a lifetime phenomenon, not because he liked you or wanted you or anything. And with Steve occupied with you he could finally have Nancy, so he should be happy. And you assumed that he was. 

“Just until Thanksgiving. I have a plan to get Nancy back.”

“Steve.” 

“Please,” he looked surprisingly desperate as he stared at you and you felt your resolve melt. 

“Until Thanksgiving.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Thanksgiving time in Hawkins, In. and things have already started to change. While they try to bring some normality back to life Jonathan finds himself a little less intrigued by Nancy and a little more infatuated with the reader.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is skipping over the whole mindflayer attack and Bob's death and also diverging from canon slightly in that I'm writing with the assumption that Jonathan and Nancy never had sex at Murray's.

**November 20th 1984**

“My dad’s family does this big shindig at our house every year. Tons of food, it’s really something.” Steve mentioned when you asked about his upcoming holiday plans. He was sprawled out on the la-z-boy in the basement, playing you in a competitive back and forth game of tetris. 

“Sounds nice, my dad’ll probably just work that day. Maybe somebody at the office will give him a can of cranberries or something.” You shrug. After everything that had happened following Halloween, not including your odd relationship status with both Jonathan Byers and Steve Harrington, you were trying to bring some normality back into your life. Things seemed to be better between Steve and Nancy, not great, not dating again, but better than Tina’s Halloween party. She wasn’t screaming bullshit at him anymore. But she was hanging around Jonathan more and more these days and you were hanging around him less and less. Despite the arrangement you’d made with Jonathan things hadn’t gone to plan after Halloween. Things hadn’t even gone normally after Halloween and there was little time to be made for school projects when the safety of the world seemed to be at stake. But you and Steve stayed close. 

“Come to ours.” Steve offered. 

“I couldn’t.” You kept your eyes on the tv screen as your turn on tetris started. 

“It’d be cool, Nancy is gonna stop by. The more the merrier. You can even sign the famous Harrington Family Thanksgiving Tablecloth and put some shit about what you’re thankful for.”

“Dear Harrington Family Tablecloth, I’m so thankful that Steve isn’t as much of a tool as everyone said.” You laughed as he threw a pillow at your head. 

“Hey, I didn’t invite myself over your house to avoid responsibility so that you could be mean to me.” He said, dodging the pillow you chucked back at him. “Besides it’d look good ya know, my fake girlfriend should be at Thanksgiving with me.”

“With you and your ex-girlfriend who you’re desperately trying to get back together with?” You laughed, “How’d you convince Nancy to come anyway?”

“I asked. I’m a charmer man, the ladies love me.” He replied, “plus I told her it was just as a friend.”

“Alright, I’ll stop by. Now finish your round, I’ve got work in twenty minutes and Keith freaked out last time I was late.” You had gotten a job a few days before Halloween at the arcade and adjoining video store in Hawkins. It wasn’t your dream job and working with Keith was definitely not what you wanted but money was money and your dad was insistent that you get a job to pay for, what he considered, unnecessary goods.

Possibly the worst part of working at the arcade was the fact that it was a common hang out for Hawkins youth. While you only ever had to deal with people like Tommy and Carol when they came in to rent a movie, or last week when Tommy and some guys snuck into the private room of the video store to look at the porn, you still got stuck seeing all the middle school kids on the daily. Some of them, like Dustin or Jonathan’s little brother Will, were more bearable than others but they were still kids and fighting a pack of demadogs with them was a lot different than saying hi where everyone could see. Because while you didn’t have anything to prove to anyone you still felt a mild amount of embarrassment every time Carol and Tina saw you being friendly to Will Byers or his friends. It was bad enough that you worked with Keith. 

After your heated game of tetris Steve dropped you at the arcade with five minutes to spare. He was going to have dinner with Nancy, a big step in their developing friendship/ex-relationship. His plans to whoo her back weren’t going as smoothly as he imagined and she wasn’t falling for the bait that you two were dating, no matter how much time Steve inevitably spent hanging around you. He might be able to convince Tommy and Tina and Carol and all his other friends with some BS story about meeting at Halloween after Nancy split on him but she clearly wasn’t as gullible. She was friends with Jonathan after all, she knew what being ‘just friends’ looked like. 

Nancy was dressed and ready to go to dinner with Steve when Jonathan pulled up to her house to drop off Will. She waved, walking down the driveway to say hello. After everything that had happened to them this year and the year before Nancy had re-evaluated what was important to her and what wasn’t. These days gossip around the school or graffitied signs on the movie theater didn’t mean a thing to her. People whispered about her friendship with Jonathan and about her break-up with Steve but Nancy didn’t care about their bullshit. 

“Mike said you’re taking them to the arcade?” Nancy asked, leaning down to rest her arm against Jonathan’s window so she could talk to him. Behind her Will ran inside, slamming the door after him. 

“I promised Will.” Jonathan shrugged, “he’s really looking forward to it.” Jonathan and Joyce were trying their hardest to give Will a normal life amidst the turmoil of demagorgons and the upside-down. Sometimes Jonathan felt like his mother was a little too overbearing with his younger brother but he understood why she was and he did his best to watch over Will as much as she wanted him to. Like today, before all of this Will would’ve easily gone to the arcade with Mike and Dustin without needing an accompanying babysitter but Joyce insisted that Jonathan go, claiming that it would be nice for the brothers to bond, as if they didn’t already. 

“That’s good.” Nancy nodded. She looked back at the house to make sure that the boys hadn’t come out yet and then back to Jonathan, “how’s he doing?”

“Alright?” Jonathan offered, hating the question. Even when it was Nancy Wheeler who asked it. He never felt like he knew what to say. Was Will really alright? Would he continue to be alright? Would all this continue to be normal now that Eleven closed the gate? It was hard to say and frankly he’d rather not dwell on it too much. 

The conversation was interrupted by Will, Mike, and Dustin running to the car. “Well,” Nancy patted the window the same way her mother did when she was ending a conversation. “I’ll see you later.” And then she was walking to her mom’s car and getting in. 

While Jonathan drove the boys to the arcade Nancy made her way to dinner with Steve. An upgrade from the diner, Steve had chosen a nicer restaurant in town. It was an Italian place near the theatre that played live music and had some pretty decent garlic bread. He was already waiting outside for her when she pulled into a parking space, his hair in perfect place and his clothes suggesting that maybe this was more than a casual dinner. But Nancy had dressed up a little too, though she tried to play it off. 

“Nance,” Steve opened the door to the restaurant for her and pulled out her chair when they got to the table. “Uh, how’ve you been?”

“Good, since yesterday.” She laughed. 

Across town Jonathan was walking into the arcade behind Dustin, Will, and Mike. Though he had agreed to take the three boys there to meet Max and Lucas he was already starting to regret it. The arcade was dimly lit and loud, a sensory overload for someone with such sensitively inclined vision. He stood off to the side, trying not to crowd his brother and friends, instead attempting to fade into a corner until it was time to leave. Which could be hours from now he realized. 

“As I live and breathe, you creeping in the corner on purpose Byers?” You teased, bumping your hip against his as you stopped next to him. 

Jonathan looked over, letting out an uncomfortable laugh and then shaking his head, “I brought Will and his friends.” Just as he pointed them out Will looked over and you shared a wave with the younger Byers. 

“How’d they pry you away from Nancy?” You asked, curious that he wasn’t spending his time with her and wondering if he knew about the non-date/date Steve had arranged. 

“I don’t…we don’t hang out all the time.” Jonathan replied. 

“Well if you’re looking to kill some time you’re welcome to hang out with me. I’ll let you in on a classified secret,” you joked, leaning closer to him, “I’m tons of fun.”

You and Jonathan hadn’t spent much time together since Halloween. A couple of meet-ups at Benny’s to talk over plans for the writing assignment that you still hadn’t told him you wanted to base on his drama with Nancy. Otherwise you had only seen him when you were with Steve around school or the few classes when you sat together. You still liked Jonathan, that was undeniable, but with everything that happened pretending to date wasn’t nearly as important as saving Will’s life. And you understood that. You didn’t expect him to make time for you and stupid school junk when he was battling some tornado with legs. But things had died down and you couldn’t help taking this opportunity to spend some time with him. 

Jonathan laughed, “do you have anywhere quieter than here?” He asked, throwing another glance his brother’s way. 

“Follow me,” you beckoned, leading the way through the heavy red curtain that separated the arcade and the movie rental. “Keith usually hangs on that side and he should be back any second from lunch.” 

“It’s dinner time.” Jonathan pointed out, grabbing a stool from behind the counter to sit on. You took the other and sat beside him where your school books were spread out. 

“It’s second lunch time for Keith. He’ll take a break for dinner in like two more hours.” You laughed, “don’t question the logic just go with it.”

“Sorry I’ve been so MIA lately.” he mentioned after a pause of silence between the two of you. He was watching older women shopping for movies to rent so that he didn’t have to look toward you as he apologized. Nancy had been right when she told him that he had a crush on you. He did. And while Nancy didn’t fall for stupid high school tricks like you’re fake relationship with Steve Harrington but Jonathan was not above being fooled by the rumors. It wasn’t that he believed all the stupid shit that Carol and Tommy talked about but he had ears and he heard them mention your name in conjunction with Steve’s enough times that he thought maybe you really were dating. Things had worked out the way they planned at Halloween and things definitely weren’t going the way he wanted them too with Nancy but maybe you had managed to score Steve while he was still fumbling over his own nonexistent love life. 

“Can’t really be mad about that can I? It’d just make me look like a massive dick.” You teased. “And in case you haven’t noticed I’m the opposite of that.”

“I’ve noticed.” Jonathan replied, laughing as he loosened up. 

You couldn’t help the flutter in your chest at the sound of his laugh and the implication that he’d noticed you, even if he was just joking. A silence settled over the two of you as you watched a lady nearing the checkout with a movie in her hands only to turn at the last moment and keep looking. You leaned against the counter top, reading over your textbook as Jonathan reached over and took the homework handout to look over.

“Have you done that yet?” You asked, not looking up from your work. 

“Ah, yeah I finished it during study period.” Jonathan put the paper down again. He looked over at you while you were distracted with your homework. It sounded funny to say but ever since you had interrupted him watching Nancy that day in English it was almost as if you had disrupted his entire focus. Before October, and even before last year Jonathan would’ve said that he had a crush on Nancy Wheeler. His brother’s best friend’s older sister was just the picture of what a high school dream girl was supposed to be and however shallow it was he had fallen into the trap of wanting her as much as any other guy. And realizing that she wasn’t just some girl-next-door pretty enough to be in a catalogue had only made him like her more. And yeah, maybe the fact that she was pretty and she could hold her own against a demagorgan were the only reasons he liked her but they were in high school, he shouldn’t have to need more reasons. 

When he thought about it, really took the time to go over it in his head, that split second in time that should’ve been so insignificant threw him for more of a loop than he expected. One second he was sitting in class staring at Nancy Wheeler and wishing she would give half as much of her attention to him as she did to Steve when you called his name and started talking to him. He’d turned his head to look at you and suddenly it was like he could quite put his focus back on Nancy. At Halloween when he left you on the stoop at Tina’s house in your Stevie Nicks get up he couldn’t stop the resentment he felt toward Nancy beneath his general concern for her well-being. He found himself wanting to know if you had looked at him the same way he was looking at you or if he was imagining it. 

“So you and Steve?” He asked because he couldn’t stop himself from wondering. Had he really pushed you into Steve Harrington’s arms or had you liked the Patrick Dempsey of Hawkins Highschool this whole time. 

“What about me and Steve?” You asked, tilting your head to the side to gauge Jonathan’s expression. He was so hard to read and most of the time he just came off as shy and awkward. 

He shrugged, trying to ‘play it cool’ if that was even a possible action for a Byers, “I’ve just…seen you around him a lot and I heard that you were dating.” If you were dating would he tell you that your boyfriend was out with Nancy right now or did you know?

You thought about telling him the truth. That you and Steve were playing everyone the way you and Jonathan had intended on playing Nancy. He would keep a secret, that much you were positive about. But why was he asking? Because he was genuinely curious about your relationship status with Steve or because he wanted to make sure that Nancy really was off the market. Or was it something else? The something else that made you get butterflies when he laughed at something you said or when he saw you across the hall at school and waved just to you in the midst of a chaotic surge of students. The something else that had you wishing his gaze lingered on you the way it lingered on Nancy. So you decided to lie, to see where this was going. “Yeah. I guess so.” 

His brow furrowed and a frown set on his face and he opened his mouth to say something when Will came through the curtain divider and asked him to look at a high score. “Oh, alright.” He finally said as he stood up and followed his brother back to the arcade. 

What did alright mean?

-

**November 22nd, 1984 - Thanksgiving**

Though you hadn’t intended to when you set out on Thanksgiving around 5pm you had dined-and-dashed at the Harringtons’ . And hardly dined to be honest. You’d arrived at Steve’s a little after leaving your own house, dressed a lot nicer than you usually did and carrying a store-bought pumpkin pie. The last one that you’d been so desperate to grab you’d stolen it from the cart of an older woman while she was looking over the bread selection in the grocery store. You didn’t want to show up empty handed after he was nice enough to invite you and the personal guilt you felt over having baked nothing for them but having a perfectly baked apple pie sitting in the back seat of your car waiting for you to go to the Byers forced you to buy something. 

It was because of the Byers that you had dressed up too. Or, a specific Byers, Jonathan had invited you to his family’s Thanksgiving dinner on Tuesday night at the arcade and you couldn’t say no. Not that you wanted to say no. The opportunity to spend any amount of time with Jonathan and the fact that he wanted to see you enough that he had brought up Thanksgiving in the first place and invited you. Sure, Steve had invited you, unprompted, to his house for dinner too but that was different. You were friends with Steve and you wouldn’t quite call whatever you and Jonathan had ‘friends’. 

You didn’t want to read too much into the invitation from Jonathan but that didn’t stop you from the nervous anticipation as you checked your appearance in the mirror a dozen times before leaving your house. You’d brushed your teeth twice and changed your clothes more than that as you tried to imagine what would look best. What would tell Jonathan that you liked him and that you were better than Nancy. Or maybe not better but a viable second option. Did he know Nancy was going to Steve’s? Was she going to Jonathan’s too? Was he going to hers? 

“I thought you were leaving?” Steve called, walking over to your car and breaking the reckless train of thought you were trapped on. 

You’d said goodbye to everyone at least ten minutes ago and then walked out to your car, headed for Jonathan’s. But then your brain started to work again and all those thoughts about Nancy and you and Jonathan and the stupid fake dating scheme with Steve bubbled up and you worried that maybe this was all a terrible idea. Maybe you should just drive home.

Steve called your name.

“Sorry, just a little on edge today.” You apologized. 

You managed to drive all the way to the Byers without incident though you had been tempted to turn down your street and go home the minute you were stopped at the corner. You worked through it though, forcing your foot on the gas pedal and going straight to the Byers. Then you sat in the car outside their house, parked beside Chief Hopper’s truck as you tried to pep talk yourself into going inside. You might’ve stayed there all night if it wasn’t for Will coming outside. 

He knocked on the car window and you were so startled you hit the horn. 

“Sorry, I’m so sorry,” you apologized as you got out of the car. Will looked concerned more than upset and the front door flew open to reveal both Jonathan and Joyce.

“Are you alright?” Jonathan asked, coming down off the porch.

“Fine, fine…hit the horn is all.” You continued to ramble as you got the tupperware from the backseat. “I made apple pie, is that okay? It’s about the only thing I can make.”

“Of course.” Joyce always looked so warm. Even now she looked so genuinely happy and warm that you found yourself wishing she was your mom. She took the tupperware from you and Will headed back inside after checking that you were okay and apologizing for startling you. 

Jonathan stayed though, grabbing your upper arm when you started to follow the rest of his small family inside. “Hey, are you sure you’re okay?” 

You weren’t sure if it was because Will had been through so much and he always expected the worst or if you genuinely looked that freaked out but Jonathan was looking at you like you might pass out at any moment. You smiled and nodded. What could you say, that you’d worked yourself into a panic over the meaning of his invitation and were so terrified to go inside that you had chosen to just sit there and creep on them? That sounded crazy. You were just…friends?

“I’m fine.” You promised.

Jonathan let go of you and led the way inside. Joyce hadn’t decorated quite as festively as the Harringtons but it was certainly cleaner than the last time you’d been inside her house. The first time you’d been there, with Steve and Billy. Chief Hopper was there, sitting on the couch drinking a beer as Joyce finished setting out dinner. The two of them were talking about different people in town. You could Will down the hall talking to El in his bedroom and the sound of music coming from somewhere else. You weren’t usually so obtrusive but you couldn’t help following the sound, not even realizing that Jonathan had followed you down the hall. 

It was his room the noise was coming from. He’d been in his room before you arrived, trying to find the cleanest shirt he could from the various shirts left around the small space. It shouldn’t have mattered, you weren’t Nancy and he had a crush on Nancy. But somehow it did matter and he felt nervous about you coming for dinner. He’d cleaned the house that afternoon. Every spare plate, every out of place magazine or toy that Will had left lying around. He’d wiped down the table and vacuumed and swept the porch. It was a little unusual but Joyce didn’t argue and she didn’t ask either. 

“I thought he was hanging around Mike’s sister.” Hopper commented as he came into the kitchen, keeping his voice low so no one would overhear him. 

“I thought so too.” Joyce shrugged. She’d only met you once before, “I thought she was Steve Harrington’s girlfriend.” 

“Who?”

“The kid with the hair.” She gestured to her head, swooping her hand back the way Steve always did. 

While they debated Steve Harrington, you and Jonathan were in his room. He stood back near the door as you thumbed through his music collection, listening to the cassette that was playing right now. You picked up a small plastic case, a hand-drawn picture on the jacket and popped it open. A mix-tape. Tiny writing on the inside of the jacket listed all the songs on the cassette and just a date was where the title would be. You laid it down and picked up another, similar tape. Jonathan fidgeted with the hem of his shirt, not sure what to say as you looked over his music collection. 

There wasn’t a lot that Jonathan shared with people. His music collection and his photographs were the most private things he owned. They belonged to him solely and he only ever opened up about them with people that he knew he could trust. His mom, Will, Nancy had seen a few pictures. But no one else. But here you were looking through his personal music collection in his room, as if you had just stepped inside his brain and decided to take a tour. 

“This mix is really good.” You commented as the next song started to play.

“Thanks.” Jonathan took another step into the room. 

“I’m terrible at making mixes. I mean…I try ya know but I just can’t get the songs in the right order.” You admitted, putting a cassette down and turning toward Jonathan. 

“I uh,” Jonathan began to speak but quickly backtracked. He wanted to offer to make you one, it was right there on the tip of his tongue, waiting for him to say. But whatever social awkwardness plagued him he knew well enough that mixtapes were for girlfriends or boyfriends and not for random English partners that were just at Thanksgiving because he was so anxious he blurted out an invitation while he was waiting with you for his brother to be finished at the arcade. They weren’t for girls that he thought he didn’t like but that now caused his chest to tighten and his palms to get clammy when he was in the same room as her. 

“Sorry,” you laughed, taking his silence for a different sort of discomfort than the kind you were currently suffering from. “I don’t know why I’m so nervous.” 

The words ‘you are’ danced across his lips but he only shrugged and said, “we could listen to something else?” He walked all the way into his room, coming up beside you and shuffling through his collection until he came to a cassette that he was particularly fond of. “I made this one a couple weeks ago…took all day Saturday.” then it was his turn to laugh nervously, “sorry that sounds lame.”

“No way, I spent all Saturday playing tetris by myself in the basement. You’re preaching to the choir.”

Somehow the tension dissipated and the room was left with an oddly peaceful silence as you sat on Jonathan’s bed with him, listening to the mixtape he’d put in. He was moving so minutely you weren’t sure you were even seeing it correctly. But you could swear that out of your peripheral vision you could see Jonathan just slightly bop his head to the song that was on. And you thought maybe if you turned your head you could even catch the barest movement from his lips as he mouthed the words. 

You kept your focus mainly trained on the comforter beneath your hands, only looking at him every once in a while, when you thought you could chance it. Jonathan’s fringe was a godsend in that moment and he used it to block your view of his eyes so he could watch you. Watch the tiny smile that came to your face when a certain lyric was sung. The way you looked so happy when you recognized a song and the way you would mouth the title as the opening chords came, trying to guess what the next song on the mixtape was. He let his mind wander to what it might be like if you were more than just friends. If he hadn’t found himself pining after Steve Harrington’s girl all over again. He wondered if you would be sitting together like this. Or would he be laying in bed with you, your head on his chest as you listened to a mixtape he made just for you. He let himself smile, thinking about the way you might kiss his cheek when a song you were really fond of started playing. Or maybe you’d listen in his car, driving in the rain and headbanging along to whatever music was playing. Maybe he’d pull over when the thunder got really bad and you’d make out in the back seat. 

Another glance over at Jonathan and you saw him blushing just the slightest. The faint red disappeared into the collar of his t-shirt. He looked over at you and while you had looked away every other time you found yourself staring right back. You smiled and he smiled back, as simple as that. And then you swore he leaned toward you, just like a movie. 

“Dinner!” Joyce’s voice pierced through the house and Jonathan nearly fell over his feet as he stood up. He gulped and ran a hand through his hair and started toward the door before realizing you were still sitting on his bed, laughing quietly at him. 

“Come on…my mom makes great stuffing.” He nodded toward the hallway for confirmation.


	3. chapter 3

**December 23rd, 1984**

You looked through the window at the polaroid camera sitting on display. There was a poster above it, a photo array of people having fun and taking pictures with the camera, suggesting the same fun could be had if you purchased it. You worried your bottom lip between your teeth, balking at the taste of chapstick on your tongue a second later. The weather had been awful this winter and your lips were paying the price, constantly chapped from the cold air. If anyone did kiss you at midnight on New Years Eve they’d be risking getting their own lips sanded off from the roughness of yours. The camera though, the camera was taunting you and you knew it. It was the perfect gift, but was it the perfect gift from you? 

Jonathan’s love of photography was something everyone in Hawkins seemed keen on. He always had a camera around his neck. Usually that old vintage one you’d seen in his room on Thanksgiving. It’d been sitting on his bedside table and the more you looked at it the more you thought that what Jonathan Byers deserved more than anything in the world was something new. Something special. Something like this polaroid camera sitting in the window of Radioshack. Those marketing teams really knew how to pull on your heartstrings. But while you wanted nothing more than to give Jonathan something truly special, like that camera, you couldn’t help wondering if that camera was really something he would want from you? Maybe it was better suited from his mom or Will or Nancy even. 

Thanksgiving had ended with an awkward goodbye on the porch of his house after the sun had been down for awhile. After Joyce’s dinner you and Jonathan had gone back to his room where you listened to more music and begged him to show you some of his photos when you saw the camera on the nightstand. 

“They’re not really of anything.”

“Well they have to be of something.” You laughed, making grab hands for the photo album that he kept. It didn’t take much begging for Jonathan to hand over the photo album. He stood, watching as you set the album on your lap and turned through the pages, spending time on each one. The more you looked the more fidgety he felt, picking at the hem of his shirt, shifting through his cassettes, running his fingers through his hair. Until finally you closed the book, “these are amazing Jonathan.”

“Oh,” he looked surprised, “thank you.” 

You hadn’t been saying it for the sake of giving him a compliment or even because you thought he was cute. You’d said it because it was true, he was a good photographer. And you were truly impressed. Impressed enough to be standing here days from Christmas, freezing in front of a window display for a camera that cost more than you had ever considered spending on any of your friends. 

But that wasn’t just because he was an exceptional photographer. It also had everything to do with the end of the night. The part that was still playing on a reel in your head, like a bad movie stuck on a continuous loop. Everything had been fine. Jonathan had walked you out to the porch when you announced it was time for you to head home. 

“Thanks for having me over for dinner.” You zipped your jacket as you stood with him on the porch, directly under the light. “I really appreciate it.”

“Yeah, you’re welcome. I…it was nice.” Jonathan replied, hands in his back pockets. 

“Okay well, goodbye.” You announced, stepping away from him, ready to leave. 

“See ya.” His mouth twitched like he was about to smile and then didn’t. Instead he just nodded his head awkwardly. 

And then it happened. You rocked forward on the balls of your feet and you kissed Jonathan Byers on the mouth. It was a quick kiss, hardly anything more than lips touching. Just as quickly as you had kissed him you had pulled away, stumbling backward as if in shock and walking to your car. Jonathan stood there, mouth agape, staring at you as you bumped into the side of your car and fiddled with the lock until finally you were able to get the key in correctly. You weren’t sure how long Jonathan stayed outside, eventually you couldn’t see him in the rearview anymore. 

You went home and called Steve because you didn’t know who else to freak out to about kissing Jonathan Byers. He had news of his own, though it wasn’t a kiss Nancy had agreed to another date and this time she was calling it a date. You had spent a great deal of the month of December avoiding Jonathan because the more time Nancy spent with Steve the more you felt like you had double crossed Jonathan and potentially ruined the English assignment you no longer cared about. 

So for the rest of November and the first half of December you avoided Jonathan at all cost. But then Nancy showed up at your locker after school to invite you to a Christmas get together at her house. It would be the four of you and her brother’s friends but she said there was a pollyanna and presented you a handful of popsicle sticks held tight in her fist.

“Pick one?” She asked, “I’ve already had Jonathan and Steve pick theirs and I’ve picked mine.” 

Had she already invited Jonathan? When? You felt like your Byers Radar was in overdrive ever since you kissed him so you were surprised you hadn’t noticed him talking to Nancy in the hallway or in class. Unless they didn’t, unless they were hanging out after school. Which was fine because you still hung out with Steve most afternoons except you couldn’t help the overwhelming feeling of envy that sprouted in you thinking of Jonathan and Nancy spending time together. Did they sit on his bed listening to mixtapes too? 

“Sure.” You nodded and grabbed a stick. “I got Jonathan.” The popsicle stick had Jonathan’s name written in sharpie. Of all the people you could have chosen. Not El, or Will, or Mike, or even Steve. But Jonathan. 

“Lucky.” She laughed, “I got Max…I’ve got no idea what to get her.” You closed your locker and shouldered your backpack and Nancy walked with you toward the double doors, continuing to talk. “I mean what do you get that kid? What does she like?”

“Beats me.” You replied, shrugging your shoulders. You’d probably only seen Max a handful of times at work and hardly ever talked to her. “Is there a price limit?”

“Figured five dollars is good?” She answered, though posed it as a question. 

“Yeah that’s fine with me.”

The camera was more than five dollars. Still you couldn’t help yourself, it just screamed Jonathan and you wanted to do something nice for him. He deserved something nice. Something special. It was December 23rd and you still hadn’t spoken to him. If ever there was a more awkward pollyanna you hadn’t heard about it. You were supposed to show up tonight for the Christmas party and give a present to someone you hadn’t spoken to in an entire month? Five dollars might be too much money. Still you made up your mind. 

You wrapped your gift when you got home, some cheesy Christmas wrapping paper that your mother had left over in the storage boxes when she left your dad. It was bright green with santas all over it and you felt silly, wrapping up a box of camera film. You had asked Will yesterday when he and Mike had stopped by the arcade, what kind of camera Jonathan used specifically so you could get him the film. That was well within the price range and still you wished it was something better. Something special. 

Mrs. Wheeler had gone over the top with the Christmas decorations, lights outlined the entirety of the house as you pulled into the driveway, Steve in the passenger buzzing about having gotten Dustin as his pollyanna. Normally you would have paid attention. In the few short months that you had known Steve the two of you had become something close to best friends. Fake dating someone could do that to a person. Though that rouse was supposed to have ended with Thanksgiving it seemed Carol and Tommy weren’t quite finished believing the lie and Steve had let them. 

“It’s almost done. Just a couple more weeks…Nancy’s on the fence.”

“That’s what you’ve been saying since she broke up with you at Halloween, it’s almost Christmas.” 

“Please,” he begged. 

“Fine, okay…alright.”

Jonathan’s gray car pulled in behind yours and Steve waved as he got out of your car. Will smiled and waved back but Jonathan was preoccupied, watching you take a present out of the back seat. There were two in the silly green wrapping and he thought maybe one was Steve’s. He had wanted to talk to you so many times after Thanksgiving but every time he saw you in the hallway or at the arcade or in class he froze. He wanted to ask you what the kiss meant. Why had you kissed him? Was it because you liked him or was it just a thank you for having invited you to Thanksgiving dinner? Did Steve know you had kissed him, had you kissed Steve too? 

If you had Byers Radar then Jonathan had a radar on you too. Will joked that he had spidey-senses when it came to you. He noticed you all the time, watched the way you chatted in the hallway with your friends. With Steve. Did you regret kissing him at Thanksgiving? Or did it never cross your mind? You didn’t talk to him about the project outside of English class and when you did talk it was only about the project. 

“Merry Christmas,” you offered, and Jonathan swallowed to calm his nerves as he met your eyes. You were smiling at him and he felt the beginnings of butterflies fluttering against his stomach and stirring up his nerves. You held your arms out and he moved toward you subconsciously, letting you wrap him in a hug. He didn’t want to pull away but you beat him to it, moving on to hug Will and wish him the same sentiment. Was it possible to be jealous of his brother? Just for a second. 

Steve led the way into the house and then it was more ‘Merry Christmases’ and ‘hellos’ and hugs. Jonathan took a seat on the smaller couch once he’d hugged enough people. Mike’s friends seemed to have taken up the floor in front of the tree while he and El sat on the larger couch with Nancy. Will took the armchair. You sat down beside Jonathan while Steve pulled a kitchen chair in to sit next to Nancy. Jonathan frowned, watching the way Steve leaned against the arm of the couch to be closer to his ex-girlfriend. Did that not bother you? Had something happened between you and Steve? If it had why had you driven here with him? 

Mike went first and then it progressed in a circle. Mike got Lucas, Lucas got El, El got Steve, Steve got Dustin, Dustin got Nancy, Nancy got Max, Max got Will, Will got you, you got Jonathan and he got Mike. You passed your gift to Jonathan, a small box wrapped in hideous paper that he took time to open. 

“Oh, wow…um thanks.” He nodded his head and gripped the film in his hands. 

“You’re welcome, Merry Christmas.” You threw in for good measure. Will had given you a keychain he had made in art class out of polymer clay. It was brightly colored and had your name carved into it. The gift warranted a hug and you got off the couch and went to the armchair to hug the younger Byers. Jonathan’s eyes didn’t leave you and he felt that same spark of jealousy as he had in the driveway, wishing he could make you smile like that. But he hadn’t gotten you for pollyanna. Although there was a newspaper wrapped gift in the trunk of his car that had your name on it all the same. 

Once the gifting was done Nancy brought out trays of food that Mrs. Wheeler had fixed for the group before being hurried out of the house. You excused yourself to the bathroom while she laid out the food on the coffee table and once inside you locked the door. You put down the toilet seat in the small powder room and sat down, taking a breath. Sitting next to Jonathan made you think of Thanksgiving and watching Steve with Nancy you wished that you could have such an easy time talking to Jonathan. But you felt like your throat closed up every time you talked to him and he hadn’t even looked at you when he opened his present. 

Did he like it? What if he didn’t? What if he had heaps of film lying around and film wasn’t anything special to him. Like giving him toothpaste or socks. You might as well have bought him a hairbrush the way he looked at the film in his hands. There was a knock on the door and you hit the faucet just to make it sound like you were doing something other than making yourself crazy thinking about Jonathan. You checked yourself in the mirror and then opened the door.

“Oh!” You stepped back as you came face to face with Jonathan standing against the opposite walk. He had his hands behind his back and his coat on. “Uh, hey.”

“Hey, sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” He apologized, “I uh, can I give you something?”

“Sure, yeah of course.” 

While you had disappeared into the bathroom, trying to relax your nerves, Jonathan had slipped out to his car. He wasn’t sure if you would like the gift he’d gotten you but he wanted to give it to you. He wanted you to smile and hug him the way you had his brother and he wanted that nagging feeling that you had forgotten all about Thanksgiving to go away. When you opened the door you looked so startled but so pretty at the same time. 

“You look really nice today.” Jonathan mentioned, taking the small package out of his pocket. 

“Thanks?” You laughed just a little and took the package he handed you.

“I didn’t get you for the uh, pollyanna but I wanted to give you this. Merry Christmas?” He said, ending it on a question, unsure of himself or the present he’d gotten. 

Jonathan had spent two days in his bedroom, listening to the radio, waiting for the perfect songs to come on. He’d made you a mix tape of all the best rock songs he could fit on the cassette. Every time Joyce asked him to do something for her he swore that he absolutely couldn’t and the one time he did, as he was washing the dishes after dinner, the sound of your favorite band came through the radio in his room. Jonathan cursed, dropping the plate he was holding and running to his room, grabbing the cassette to record the song. But his hands had been soapy and the suds had leaked into the tape and ruined it, costing him another cassette and an entire day. He would never tell you any of that but he knew how much trouble he had gone to. Will and Joyce had teased him about it all weekend.

“Oh my god,” you smiled as you pulled the newspaper off to reveal the cassette. You opened the case to read the songs that were on it. “Jonathan,” you said his name so softly that it made his chest tighten. You looked up at him, the smile still there and wrapped your arms around his shoulders. “Jonathan I love this, thank you.”

“I just…yeah it’s no problem.” Jonathan said but he wrapped his arms around you, letting himself enjoy the hug. He was reluctant to let go when you pulled away. 

You eyed the cassette again, “I can’t wait to listen to it.” 

“I’m glad you like it.”

“It’s the nicest gift I’ve gotten.” You insisted. The handmade keychain from his brother was pretty nice but the cassette meant so much more. “I really lucked out this year, you Byers give the nicest gifts.”

“I just, I wanted to do something nice for you. I uh,” Jonathan breathed out nervously and licked his lips, thinking of how he wanted to finish his sentence. 

You smiled and leaned forward, kissing him. Before you could let it become Thanksgiving all over again Jonathan’s hands came up to hold your face, kissing you back eagerly. He wouldn’t miss this chance again. Your hands went inside his jacket, gripping his shirt at the sides and trying to be closer to him, your tongue tracing over his lower lip. Jonathan had never ‘french’ kissed anyone before but he’d seen it plenty of times at school because Tommy’s locker was right by his and Carol was always sucking his face off before class. It felt a lot different than it looked though and he could only hope he was doing the right thing as he let you deepen the kiss. 

“Oh man, come on guys! There are kids here.” Steve’s voice cut through the hallway and you pulled away from Jonathan, though not completely. 

You almost seemed to hug him tighter, trying to bury yourself in his jacket from the initial embarrassment of being caught making out in Nancy Wheeler’s hallway. You turned your head away from Steve and laughed, tucking your face into Jonathan’s shoulder. He had dropped his hands, one arm awkwardly laying at his side while his other went to your shoulders only because he was unsure what else to do. 

“Beat it Steve.” You said, rolling your head to the side so you could see him. You released one arm from around Jonathan’s waist so you could flip your fake boyfriend off. 

“Some people these days.” Steve laughed, “well I’ll be eating all the food.” He backed out of the hallway and made his way back to the living room. You heard him say something to Nancy about you and Jonathan ‘sucking face’. 

“I don’t,” Jonathan pulled away completely, his face fraught with confusion, “I don’t…I thought you and Steve.”

“No, we uh…at Halloween,” you sighed. “I told him we were fake dating and he proposed me and him doing the same thing…so he could get Nancy back.”

“Does she know?” He asked, unsure what to say as he tried to catch up with what you were saying.

“I think so. I doubt she fell for it.”

“I did.”

“I’m sorry, I…I wanted to tell you but I didn’t think it mattered I mean, I didn’t know you.” You waved a hand between the two of you. “I didn’t know you liked me like that.”

Jonathan ran a hand through his hair and looked down the hallway, nervousness rolled off him in waves and stuffed up small space between you two until you were feeling the same nervous energy eating at your insides. Finally he looked to you and smiled, just the smallest hint of one, “Neither did I…until Thanksgiving.” He admitted. “But I thought you were with Steve.”

You couldn’t help the laugh that fell out then, followed by a soft chorus of laughter as you and Jonathan stood there in the hallway together, realizing what an absolute mess the two of you had gotten yourselves into. You kept thinking he still liked Nancy and he thought you were hung up on Steve and you’d made such a mess you couldn’t fathom how it’d gotten so out of control. He reached for your hand and pulled you close to him, kissing you once more though not as intensely as before. “Should we go out to the party?”

“We can’t stay in the hallway forever.” You teased, the smile on your face meant solely for him, something he was already getting used to. 

-

**December 25th, 1984**

You did Christmas morning the same way you had been doing Christmas morning since your mom left. The table top tree that served as the only decoration in the house sat lit up in front of the window with gifts beneath it as you sat on the floor drinking a cup of coffee and opening those designated for you. Your dad switched between paying attention and reading yesterday’s newspaper, sipping his own coffee. You had forgotten Jonathan’s other gift in the backseat of your car despite driving back to his house after the party was over. Though cameras and Christmas were the last things on your mind as he walked you to his room and shut the door. Will had stayed at Mike’s and Joyce was still at work. You’d spent the evening making out on his bed listening to the mix tape he made you. That is until Joyce did get home, Will in toe, and swung Jonathan’s door open to find the two of you sitting on his bed with his hand up your shirt and yours a little too close to the zipper of his jeans. 

“I don’t ask that much of you, but the rules are the rules and the rule is no girls in your room with the door closed. And especially no girls in this house when I or your brother are not home!” Joyce had shouted after making the two of you sit on the living room couch so she could ‘have a chat’. “I don’t want to have to call your father.”

“Please don’t.” You replied hastily. There was no way he was going to let you leave the house if he knew you had ended up at some guy’s house, even if you had gone to Nancy’s. He’d think you had lied to him about the whole thing. 

“I want you both to feel comfortable and happy and I get it, you’re teenagers and this is all new and you want to explore a little-”

“Mom.” Jonathan protested, face going beet red.

“What? I did a lot of exploring at your age trust me-”

“Mom!” Will shouted from the kitchen. “That’s so gross.”

“Just, keep the clothes on and the door open and if me or your brother aren’t home-”

“Okay, okay. We get it.” Jonathan replied, standing up from the couch.

“I should go anyway…my dad’ll be wondering where I am.”

“I’ll walk you out.” 

Jonathan had walked you to your car and just as he was about to kiss you goodbye the porch light flickered. He looked up to where Joyce was standing in the doorway, hand on the light switch inside, “no funny business in the car either. Trust me, it’s awful on your back.”

“Thanks Mrs. Byers.” You called as Jonathan dropped his head onto your shoulder and groaned. You ran a hand through his hair and whispered, “it’s okay I’ll risk it for you.”

If it was possible his face grew even redder. 

And still you forgot the camera. So after opening all your presents and watching your dad unenthusiastically open a gift he gave you the money to buy him you said that you wanted to stop by Nancy’s for a visit. You claimed her parents invited you and you knew once you left that your dad would never fact check that statement. Instead he’d spike some of the eggnog in the fridge and go downstairs to take a nap in his la-z-boy in the basement. 

You dressed for Jonathan’s, trying to look pretty and keeping in mind that you were dropping by on Christmas morning unannounced without knowing if they even liked visitors on the holiday. When your mom was still living with you she had always insisted that Christmas day was for family and any friends could wait until the 26th. Joyce seemed a lot more easygoing then your mom though so you hoped, as you rang the doorbell, that she wouldn’t turn you away. 

It was better than you’d hoped though. Jonathan opened the door in a pair of red and green pajamas that Joyce had talked the boys into wearing, his tired expression shifting to one of sheer embarrassment in a matter of seconds. He threw the door closed in your face and you had to stop yourself from laughing as you rang the doorbell once more. 

Joyce opened the door, “he’s changing.” She supplied as she welcomed you in. Will was at the table scarfing down pancakes and not worrying about the pjs. 

“I thought they were adorable.” You laughed as Jonathan came into the room, pulling a gray shirt over his head.

“They’re embarrassing and I said they would be.”

“Why cause your girlfriend saw you in them?” Will teased. 

“Can we please?” Jonathan grabbed your hand in his and began to lead you down the hall to his bedroom.

“Door open!” Joyce shouted, going back to breakfast with her youngest, “did you know she was coming over.”

“No, but she told me she forgot to give him a present.” Will shrugged.

“What is it?”

“I don’t know she said it was a surprise.”

Jonathan pushed the door almost completely shut, leaving enough of a crack that someone could see in if they walked passed without losing all of his privacy. He kicked the pajamas under the bed and motioned for you to sit. His room was messier than it had been on Thanksgiving and you had to smile, thinking he’d obviously cleaned it for you. 

“Sorry the uh, I didn’t get a chance to make the bed.” 

“S’okay. I just stopped by cause I have a present for you.” You replied, presenting him with the gaudily wrapped gift. 

“We exchanged presents.” Jonathan said, standing awkwardly. Though he’d called you both on the 23rd and the 24th he still felt a little nervous to be in his room with you again. He wasn’t sure if he should kiss you or sit next to you or at least say something to ease the tension he felt. You seemed at ease though as you waited for him to take the present.

“I know but, I saw this when I was getting your pollyanna and I just wanted to give you something special.” You confessed. Jonathan took the gift and pulled apart the wrapping paper, revealing the box that the polaroid came in. His eyes went wide and for a second he almost dropped it. 

“This is-” He looked back up at you, nervous excitement coursing through him. It was too much, the gift was more than he could have expected or asked for. But that didn’t erase the happiness he felt holding the camera in his hands. He’d seen it in the window of the Radio-shack on his way to visit his mom at work a couple times and had stopped to stare hungrily at it. If only.

“Don’t say it’s too much okay, cause it really isn’t.” You insisted.

“The film was a good gift.” Jonathan replied, finally taking a seat beside you so that he could open the camera box, “really it was plenty.”

“Jonathan-” You nudged his side, leaning into him. When he turned you kissed him quickly, “seriously just say thank you.”

He blushed and nodded his head, “thank you.”


End file.
